Flagship 4: Social Protection for Agriculture and Resilience

Flagship 4 seeks to understand how best to design social protection programs, and how these programs complement programs supporting agricultural growth and rural transformation. An understanding of which instruments for delivery (cash, vouchers, food, or other) work best for which groups, how programs should be targeted, how large they should be, how beneficiaries can graduate (that is, become resilient enough to manage without the benefits of the program), and how safety nets can promote better nutrition, can help inform design and implementation of programs. Work on social protection and nutrition is undertaken jointly with the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). Insurance, credit, savings, and money transfers can assist poor households to prepare for shocks, and can also make public transfers faster. The gendered nature of vulnerability, and instruments to address it, are major areas of focus.

PIM researchers have an established record of examining the impacts of transfers from social protection programs on agricultural outcomes, including increased use of fertilizer, improved seeds and agricultural credit (Hoddinott et al. 2014; Gilligan et al. 2009); increased investments in land, water harvesting and productive assets (Hoddinott et al. 2012); rural household labor supply (de Brauw et al 2015); and livestock holdings (Berhane et al. 2014; Gilligan and Hoddinott 2007). In Phase 2, research under Flagship 4 will emphasize linkages between and among social protection, risk management, and agriculture.

Flagship 4 addresses the following research questions:

How do social protection programs influence agricultural growth and nutrition, and what are the implications of this for program design?

Are there trade-offs between public spending on social protection, agricultural growth, and nutrition? If so, how should these trade-offs be managed?

How can the design, delivery, and targeting of social protection programs be improved to increase complementarities with agricultural and nutritional interventions?

What features of insurance products do poor smallholders value most, and how can uptake of insurance be increased? How does insurance affect the way agricultural producers behave?

Social protection research in Phase 2 will continue to focus on Africa south of the Sahara and South Asia, with particular emphasis on Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Mali. Selective involvement in India (in collaboration with A4NH) and Pakistan will be considered. Research on insurance will focus initially on Bangladesh, India and Ethiopia, and will explore opportunities in selected other countries in Asia and Africa south of the Sahara, including Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania.

Work on insurance is pursued collaboratively with CCAFS and other CGIAR research programs.

Research clusters

Cluster 4.1: Social Protection Delivery and Outcomes

Cluster 4.2: Agricultural Insurance and Risk Management for the Poor

Geographic focus

Cluster 4.1: Africa south of the Sahara and South Asia, with particular emphasis on Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Mali.Cluster 4.2: initially Bangladesh, India, and Ethiopia, and will explore opportunities in selected other countries in Asia and Africa south of the Sahara, including Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania.